Victoria Arbiter: 'The day I met Princess Diana'

9Honey Royal Commentator and author Victoria Arbiter spent her latter teen years at Kensington Palace, so who better to give us a real insight into the happenings of the British Royal Family?

In her weekly column for 9Honey, Victoria will shed light on the monarchy's movements - this week, she recalls her encounter with the late Princess Diana.

This week, Americans have been celebrating Thanksgiving. Having made the US my adopted homeland for the last 20 years, it’s a holiday I have come to appreciate enormously: no pressure to buy gifts, an excuse to eat a cheeky Christmas-style lunch a month in advance, and a day that encompasses everyone no matter their race, religion or creed.

Given the current political climate, widespread intolerance, on-going gun crime and other domestic woes, it does wonders having a nationwide day focused purely on gratitude. Across the pond, the Royals welcomed their own American to the family this year. Perhaps they too will see this week as a time to offer thanks.

LISTEN: Victoria Arbiter shares her royal insights in 9Honey's new podcast The Windsors. In Episode 1, we peer into the life of Prince Harry. (Post continues.)

It’s been a remarkable year for the Windsors. Two royal weddings, two royal babies, the Sussexes’ pregnancy announcement, the 65th anniversary of the Coronation and Prince Charles’s 70th birthday have all been cause for celebration.

As each event has unfolded, it’s been exciting to witness a new swathe of royal watchers garnering interest.

The monarchy has served as the backdrop for pretty much my entire life.

But seeing the borderline hysteria that greeted Harry and Meghan during their tour down under, I was reminded of my own first personal brush with royalty—the day I met Diana.

From the age of 12 I was a boarder at a full-time ballet school in England, and if a parent showed up mid-week, it didn’t bode well. The date was Tuesday, September 25, 19-something-or-other, and my class was preparing to head into London to see the West End musical Cats.

'She was mind-bogglingly beautiful.' (Getty)

Minutes before piling onto the coach, I was summoned to the Headmaster’s office, where I found my father waiting. My stomach dropped. I was such a square that I knew I hadn’t been busted for smoking or swigging vodka behind the chapel, so the only other question was: Who had died? And infinitely more pressing…was I going to miss Cats?

I was told to change into my smartest clothes. I was, apparently, going out to celebrate my Dad’s birthday. Weird!
Duly changed, I found my stepmother and grandmother waiting in the car, their poker faces set firmly in place.

Not a word was uttered as we drove into London, nor as we pulled up to the police barricade at Kensington Palace. Finally - “Will someone please tell me what’s going on?” Crickets. But I was beginning to suspect that whatever it was, was going to be well worth missing Cats for.

Once through the gates, we parked and crossed the inner courtyard to a large glossy-black front door marked number one. Dad rang the bell.

WATCH: Victoria Arbiter talks us through the complex relationships within the British monarchy. (Post continues.)

I don’t know who I was expecting to see, but as the door started to open the thought process went something like this: 'Oh my God, I can’t breathe, I’m going be sick… it’s Diana.'

She was mind-bogglingly beautiful, and as I gazed at her loveliness, my follow-up thought was: 'I’m dressed like a man.' I was in my early teens and far from hip. My outfit was screaming '80s: ankle-length burgundy culottes, a white oversized man’s shirt embroidered with flowers, and an overly-long navy blazer with shoulder pads straight out of Dynasty.

If Diana was appalled, she didn’t show it. In fact, she couldn’t have been more gracious or welcoming.

The Princess ushered us across the threshold and into her home. I shook her hand while attempting to execute my best curtsy, and we ascended the stairs to join the guests gathered in the drawing room.

Drinks in hand, everyone seemed to be delighted to be celebrating Dad’s half-century, but it may actually have been because they were knocking back champagne during the middle of what should have been a standard workday.

(Getty)

The doors to the dining room opened. It was time for lunch. Five tables, each beautifully laid for five, had been set up. Tied to each of the chairs were helium balloons emblazoned with birthday messages. I sat opposite Diana and my family completed our table.

At the end of lunch, the piece de resistance was delivered to Dad in the form of a bright blue birthday cake decorated to mimic his trusty Motorola mobile phone. Neatly iced amid the myriad candles read 'You’re never alone when Dickie’s got his phone'. Diana was particularly tickled by that.

It was an extraordinary day in many ways and one for which I will always be grateful.

I never could have imagined my future employment would be so royal-centric, but thanks to Diana I was fortunate enough to experience royalty at its finest.

'The monarchy continues to adapt and evolve just as it has for the last thousand years.' (Getty)

A new generation now inhabits Kensington Palace and a different royal occupies the title of the Princess of Wales, but with the addition of the Duchess of Sussex to the Windsor fold, I am acutely aware that my job offers an incredible front-row seat to history in the making and for that I offer thanks this year.

The monarchy continues to adapt and evolve just as it has for the last thousand years, but Diana shall forever remain the “Queen of People’s Hearts”, as she had hoped to be known.

Thanks to my exceptional date with her, she will always have a special place in mine.